This invention is in the field of signal processing systems, and particularly in the areas of wideband digital or analog signal processing means.
The prior art is exemplified by articles entitled "Fiber-Optic Delay Lines for Microwave Signal Processing," by Wilner and Van den Heuvel, Proceedings of IEEE, Vol. 64, No. 5, May 1976, pages 805-807; and "Fiber Optic Delay Lines for Pulse Coding," by Ohlhaber and Wilner, Electro-Optical Systems Design, Chicago, Ill., Feb. 1977, pages 33-35.
Such prior art shows encoding and decoding structures using optical fibers. However the prior art does not utilize the optical fibers connected serially nor does such prior art couple a plurality of the serially connected fibers to a similar structure to obtain coding and decoding of the signals.